Thistlesword the Valiant's Arc

Chapter 1 of 5

Thistlesword pressed her palm against the charred bark of the oak tree. The forest floor smelled of damp earth and rot. She had come to the graves at dawn, like she did every morning for the past three hundred years. Two small mounds lay before her, covered in moss and fallen leaves. She placed wildflowers on each grave and whispered about the family she'd destroyed last week—a farmer who now believed his brother was stealing from him. Her children couldn't answer, but she told them anyway. The humans would leave this forest, one broken mind at a time. She stood and brushed dirt from her knees. The morning ritual was done, but her work had just begun. She needed a place to plan her attacks, somewhere the humans would never find. The war room waited deep in the forest, hidden beneath centuries of growth. Stone walls rose from the earth, covered in moss and carved with runes she no longer remembered how to read. Purple flames burned in iron sconces, casting shadows across the floor. She had discovered this place decades ago, and now it served her purpose perfectly. Maps of human settlements covered one wall, marked with symbols only she understood. She traced her finger along the parchment, counting the villages that remained. Twelve families still lived in her forest. By winter, she would make that number smaller. She picked up a piece of charcoal and circled the next target—a logging camp near the eastern ridge. She left the war room as afternoon light filtered through the canopy. Her hooves carried her west, toward the boundary where her forest met human roads. She needed to mark the edge, to warn them they were not welcome. She gathered skulls from old kills and stacked them in a pile beside the trail. Purple fire bloomed on each skull as she whispered old words. Horseshoes from her dead herd circled the pile, gleaming in the dim light. Any human who passed would see it and know fear. Some would turn back. Others would ignore the warning and push deeper into her forest. Those were the ones she would break. She stepped back and studied her work. The boundary was clear now. Her forest. Her rules. Her revenge.